


hexcellent parenting

by Noa



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Domestic, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Feel-good, Frogs, Gen, Henry being Henry, Henry!Owain, Requested fic, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 16:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7514440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noa/pseuds/Noa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You should’ve told me you were going to summon some kind of hell beast!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	hexcellent parenting

Owain is ten years old, and that’s totally old enough to curse something.

That’s what he’s decided anyway, set up in the center of his small bedroom with a notebook, some chalk and a frog that just won’t sit still. Various attempts at magic circles surround him, messy scribbles of chalk and there’s scrunched up leaves of paper full of rejected spell names strewn all over. He frowns as his little frog-victim hops out of yet another circle.

His father always makes this look so easy.

There’s a knock on the door, and the handle turns.

In a flash of panic, Owain takes the edge of his shirt and scoops up the frog, hiding the little creature in the improvised pouch he’s created. If his mother finds out he brought a frog into the house he’d get in some serious trouble.

Thankfully it’s his father who comes in, a big dopey smile on his face and an empty woven basket in his hand.

“Owain, your mother asked me to do some shopping! Wanna come?” He says, and Owain opens his mouth to answer but then –

 _Ribbit_.

Owain’s eyes widen in horror. He hisses down at his shirt pouch like it would keep the frog quiet, but instead the critter wriggles about and croaks some more. Owain thinks of the possible excuses he could use to get away with this.

“Uhm..” He says. “I’m hungry?”

Henry’s expression remains unchanged. He lifts his finger and points it at Owain’s stomach.

“You must be _really_ hungry to eat a whole frog! It sounds like you didn’t even chew.” And then with a tilt of his head, he adds: “You didn’t eat any of the pretty ones, right? Those taste horrible.” He pulls a disgusted face, but it clears up quickly. “And they make you vomit, so it’s not nutritious at all. Nya-ha!”

“Uh.” Owain repeats smartly, unsure of what to say. Right at that moment the frog in his shirt decides it has had enough. It tries to jump and Owain startles, giving it enough of a window to escape. It hops one, two times before it decides it’s safe again, giving a content _ribbit_. Owain stares at it, at his now slimy shirt, and then at his dad.

Henry stays quiet far longer than Owain is comfortable with. It was already hard to read his father, but it became even scarier when Owain couldn’t tell whether or not he was going to get scolded.

“Ooooooooh.” Henry says. He sets down the basket and looks around the room, with all its badly drawn sigils and wads of discarded paper. Odin fidgets, but then his father claps his hands together excitedly. “You should’ve told me you were going to summon some kind of hell beast!”

Owain slumps a little and sighs. “I.. I wasn’t.” He wipes at one of the chalk circles, smudging it. “I was trying to curse the frog.”

Henry rubs his chin and hums. Then he closes the door behind him and steps on over to his son, plopping himself down by his side.

“Want me to help?” He asks, and Owain’s face brightens.

*

An hour later, there’s another knock on the door. This time it’s Owain’s mother who enters.

“Owain? Is your father with – _eeeek_!”

“Oooh, you almost stepped on it!” Henry notes happily. Owain giggles.

At Lissa’s feet sits a frog. A _huge_ frog, coming up to Lissa’s knees. It looks up at her and ribbits, the sound enough to shake the furniture in the room. Lissa pushes down her shivers and takes a deep breath. Then her hands plant themselves firmly in her sides, and both Henry’s and Owain’s expressions fall simultaneously.

“Henry, _honey_ , come with me for a second?”

Uh-oh.

According to what Owain overhears from his parents arguing in the hallway, Henry didn’t actually show him a real curse ( _“It was just a harmless little hex, ouch, please let go of my ear before it comes off. ...Actually, that could be fun. Nya-ha-h- ouch!!”_ ). But Owain wasn’t disappointed because it still looked really cool. His father let him wear his cape, and they said the “KABLAMMO” part together.

He’s never felt more magical in his life, and Owain decides that he really likes that feeling. Maybe when he grows up, he can be a mage like his dad and learn real curses that look even more awesome and cool! He should start thinking of names for all the spells he’ll cast…

*

Henry holds Owain’s hand as they finally head for the market. Owain is still wearing his father's cape and it drags behind him on the dirt road.

“Don’t worry,” Henry says. “I told your mother it was my idea! Too bad we had to get rid of the frog though… We should pick something else next time. How about a bunny? Your mother _loves_ bunnies!”

Owain doesn’t answer. He just smiles and grips his father’s hand a bit tighter, shining with pride. Ten years old might not be old enough to curse something, but his dad is the best, darkest dad ever, and with him at his side Owain knows he can do anything.

_-fin_

**Author's Note:**

> I can't tell you how many times I accidentally typed Odin instead of Owain.
> 
> Also, did you know Henry has three different backstories? He tells Panne he was abandoned in the woods, Olivia that he got sent to an elite school and Nowi that his family ignored him completely, all three happening when he was little. Get it together, FE:A writers.


End file.
